Native Americans - in-depth studies Flashcards
What benefits did the Gilded age bring to Native Americans?
Victory against Custer convinced some Americans that there needed to be a change in the poor conditions of Indians, but this was a minority.
2-off reservation boarding schools were set up, which provided boys with vocational training and girls domestic skills.
This gave some the opportunity to find better jobs as interpreters, scouts to army units, and Indian agency officers.
The Dawes act made some into landowners which gave them full citizenship, but Indians didn’t want this.
What benefits from reservations did the Gilded age bring to Native Americans?
Reservations provided the opportunity to establish farms.
It also gave them the opportunity for better healthcare, which was good considering their life expectancy, death and disease.
The reservations allowed tribal life to continue.
The Navajo tribe increased their land from 4 million acres to 10.5 million, and livestock from 15,000 to 7 million. This led to a rise in population.
What were the negatives of the Gilded Age?
The Wounded Knee massacre destroyed the Sioux.
The education was poor, and off-reservation boarding schools often found no employment opportunities so returned to reservation life. They felt alienated on return and regarded as ‘untrustworthy’ by those on reservations.
Woman in tribes with matriarchal status lost this, with land given to the male of the family.
What were the negatives of the Gilded Age - reservations?
In reality, reservation was a failure, where they lost their freedom and no civil rights.
Life on reservations was harsh and the land was often difficult to farm.
Reservation size was significantly reduced.
What were the negatives of the Gilded Age - poverty?
Government subsidies were insufficient and cut further with other demands.
Most were unable to adapt to allotment policy and sold their land to white settlers. They often spent the money and fell in poverty.
What were the benefits of the New Deal on Native Americans?
The Indian Reorganisation Act 1934 meant Native Americans had a greater role in reservation administration. Corporations were established to ensure resources were better managed.
Training in farming and better medical services was established.
Tribes on reservations were led by tribal councils, which helped encourage tribal loyalties, which the government had previously tried to break up.
What were the benefits of the New Deal on Native Americans - culture?
This act also protected their right to practise religion and assert their cultural identity, including using peyote, a hallucinatory substance for religious visions.
Their children could attend local schools and learn their culture.
There was better respect for Native American culture.
What were the benefits of the New Deal on Native Americans - land?
The act stopped the sale of their land and recovered large amounts of land, used to expand or create reservations.
The Allotment policy was abandoned and further land loss prevented.
What were the limitations of the New Deal on Native Americans?
Native American poverty was so great that the measures had little impact.
The improvements were not maintained after WW2.
Assimilation continued, and termination was introduced after WW2.
There were insufficient federal funds to buy back former reservation lands.
What were the limitations of the New Deal on Native Americans - rejection?
75 out of 245 tribes rejected the measures of self-governing bodies.
The use of a secret ballot among tribes to accept the act was rejected as they saw democracy as ‘white man’s culture’.
The idea of a separate federal court for their issues was abandoned.
How did Black Power have a significant influence on Native Americans?
The Indians may have been inspired to forget their tribal differences by the unity of the Black Power movement, unity was essential for success.
‘Red Power’ was taken directly from Black Power and many ideology was inspired from Malcolm X.
They took the idea of pride in their culture and race.
How did Black Power have a significant influence on Native Americans - protest?
The Black Power tactics encouraged many young Native Americans to abandon more peaceful methods and legal cases, which were slow and little progress.
Many Native Americans recognised the popular and mass movement of Black Power, which could pressurise the government for change.
The timing of more militant protests of AIM followed that of the Civil rights movement, suggesting they were influenced.
How was Black Power not that influential on Native Americans?
There were clear indications that the Native Americans were already more united in resistance after WW2 and termination.
Native American pressure groups were already successful in civil rights, and the government had established the Indian Claims Commission.
How was Black Power not that influential on Native Americans - militancy?
Militancy was already a feature in some groups - National Indian Youth Council.
The militancy was a direct response to the conditions they found themselves in in the urban areas, and the ghettoisation simply made it easier for them to organise pressure groups and protest.
How was Black Power not that influential on Native Americans - attitudes?
The developments in movements might be just a response to the wider developments in US society. Attitudes were changing - Johnson’s great society and his war on poverty - might have encouraged groups as increased chance of success.
The alien conditions they experienced on arrival made them more determined to preserve their culture and way of life.
